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Topic: what pollen still in northern vt? (Read 3891 times)

It is almost the end of november and one of my nucs is still bringing in pale yellow pollen today. What are they finding? The fields are dead and brown. we have seen many nights in the low teens and some snow.

They have been doing this every warm up for the last month, None of the others are at all. Can I interpret that somehow (extended brood rearing?) or does it just signify that they found a source somewhere that the others have not (seems less likely)?

I have a few hives that are bringing in pale pollen also. We have had hard frost and light snow here already but I counted 15 dandelions behind the barn.I can top that with the 3 fat drones I saw today walking into an entrance.

"Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch toward uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one-half the world fools and the other half hypocrites."--Thomas Jefferson

They could be bringing in dust from bird feeders, or grain dust of one sort or another.

I often caught my bees at the trough I fed cracked corn to the beefs I was fattening last winter. They were loading up on the corn dust. Saw them at the bird feeder too on occasion.

Joel

And you can see the same thing in the spring and I have seen bees bring in wood saw dust all so.

X:X X:X X:X

BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)

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"Tell me and I'll forget,show me and I may remember,involve me and I'll understand" Chinese Proverb

"The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways." John F. KennedyFranklin County Beekeepers Association MA. http://www.franklinmabeekeepers.org/

I watched them bring in a bright orange pollen all last winter around here. Any day they can fly. I have no idea what's producing it, or where they get it. Right now I see an occasional Dandelion, the last one in noticed went to seed in a week.

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"Thinking is like sin, them that doesn't is scairt of it, and them that does gets to liking it so much they can't quit!" -Josh Billings.

Last winter my OB hive brought in black dust and packed it into the cells. I suspect it was coal dust from the power plant across the river. They never used it and I cleaned out those frames in the spring.Jim

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"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed. If you do read the newspaper you are misinformed."--Mark Twain

Here in Southeast ,Iowa I noticed dandylions blooming yesterday, also saw bees in the timber on the leaves on the ground I assume collecting something,we have had highs in the 60's and 70's the past couple of days.

First year guy here. Is this a normal winter? Or, is this a repeat of last years "no winter" winter. I didn't have bees therefore I don't know how they were affected. My bees are bringing in pollen pretty heavily.